The Experiment
by Cassatt
Summary: J/C:A lighter sequel to "Season 7 Chakotay" - Janeway devises a plan to help Chakotay and her wait until the AQ - Fluff!


Disclaimer: Paramount owns them.   
Rating: R, definitely R 

Summary: Sort of, maybe, perhaps a different sequel to 'Season Seven Chakotay'.   
The basic backplot - Janeway has admitted her feelings for Chakotay and has   
asked him to wait until they return to the AQ to start a relationship. She comes   
up with a plan to help them wait that long.... 

_Copyright February 2001 Cassatt_

The Experiment

"Once a month," Kathryn said with a glint in her eye. Taking a sip of synthaholic wine she watched a number of different emotions dance across Chakotay's face. 

"And the theory you are trying to prove is..." 

"Well, I don't know if you can call it a _theory_ per se, in strictly _scientific_ terms. Maybe more like an old fashioned experiment. As in Gallileo's time. As in what would happen if....rather than we think _this_ will happen and let's see if we can prove it. We'd have no idea what would happen." 

Chakotay's heart, which had begun to thud against his ribs after her first mentioning of this idea, now flipped. He knew exactly what would happen. Could she really not? There was a definite gleam in her eye. 

"Chakotay, think about it. Let's say we get home in Starfleet's best estimate of four or five years. Once a month times four years is forty-eight times. And four years is a long time to wait with no encouragement." 

"Well, I'd agree with you there. Okay, so what would be the conditions under which this experiment would be performed?" 

"Two minute time limit." 

"That's _all?_" Two minutes was better than nothing, he concluded. "Hands?" 

"Hm-m, from the neck up only," Kathryn grinned. This could be fun, she thought again. 

Chakotay paused, then went for it, to see if he could get her to blush. "Tongues?" It worked, he watched it creep up from the top of her turtleneck all the way to her hairline. 

Kathryn felt that one between her legs. "No tongues," she stated positively. 

He pretended to ponder the situation carefully, though in truth the possibility of being able to kiss Kathryn, even just for two minutes once a month, was not something he would willingly turn down. They were her protocols, let her fight them, he reasoned. He would enjoy himself. "Okay, I agree. When do we start?" 

"Tomorrow night. After dinner. My place." 

"Oops, one more question. Earth months or stardates?" 

"Earth months, in honor of the goal. We'll program the computer to remind us the day before, say the first of each month. Agreed?" 

"Agreed." 

* * *

The next day on the bridge found both the Captain and the Commander a bit distracted, to say the least. Each time she glanced at him, Chakotay had that little smile on his face, the one that only showed half a dimple, the one that drove her crazy. Made her knees go weak and her heart race. As though her heart needed any more encouragement to thunder in her chest. And right then, the thought of his lips on hers later that evening was driving her nuts. She rose, unable to sit. She felt his eyes follow her though she didn't meet them. 

Chakotay watched her, seeing her pent up energy, unable to look him in the eye, and chuckled to himself. He looked at the chronometer on his console. Damn, another eight hours until dinner. And then how was he going to get food down? Maybe they should change the conditions. Kiss before eating sounded better. He picked up a padd from the pile next to him and keyed in a message for her saying just that. As she walked by on her third pacing of the bridge he touched her hand. The electrical charge was palpable. She looked at him in surprise but he just pushed the padd into her hand and smiled. 

Kathryn read it, tapping the surface absently. She felt the blush and almost laughed out loud. Damn, he was too cute for words. She concurred with his analysis and keyed in her response, adding 'Casual clothes'. She handed it back to him with a wink and told him, out loud, she was leaving for lunch as she walked off the bridge. 

Chakotay read what she had written and actually did chuckle out loud, which caused Tom to turn around from the helm. His commanding officer usually didn't laugh when reading a padd. 

* * *

When Kathryn opened the door to her quarters that evening, Chakotay instantly understood why she had specified casual clothes. She wore an open necked tunic. She was granting him access to the skin of her neck, the thought of which was enough to send him reeling just then. He had spent hours thinking about kissing her, remembering the taste of the one kiss they had shared, remembering how dizzying it had been, and how brief. He had ended it the moment after he felt her succumb, deliberately wanting her to ponder _that_ feeling above all the others of that day. Now he had two minutes to enjoy himself, to lose himself in her. 

Kathryn's heart was pounding so loudly when she opened the door she felt embarrassed by the noise. And Chakotay looked gorgeous. He handed her the usual bottle of wine and after she put in on the table he took her hand and led her to the couch. So he was going to take the initiative, she thought. That was fine with her, she was so uncharacteristically nervous she welcomed the change of command. He sat them down, facing each other. 

"So, Kathryn, do we set a timer or something?" His eyes were sparkling. 

"Okay, if you want..." She couldn't get herself out of his eyes. 

"I thought this was supposed to be a scientific experiment," he grinned. 

"Yes. Yes, it is. Computer, set time two minutes on my mark." 

"That's better. Don't want to fail the first night. Ready?" 

She took a deep breath. "Mark," she replied. 

_'Two minutes and counting' _was dimly heard by both as their lips met, softly pressing together with a sigh, moving against each other with a little more urgency, his hands on her cheeks, her neck, hers making it to his hair, the urgency increasing as they both fought to keep their tongues in check, hearts pounding, breathing heavily, sighing more loudly against each other's mouths as their lips began to part... 

_'Two minutes ending in three...two...one...end.'_ They tried to stop, backing off the urgency, the kisses now soft, slowing down, finally pulling away, their foreheads touching while hands still caressed, their hearts still pounded, their bodies still on fire, their eyes still closed. Eventually Chakotay pulled Kathryn to his chest and they held each other until they were calmed. 

"So, Kathryn," he said into her hair, "I'm not sure what we proved, other than perhaps two minutes isn't quite long enough..." 

"Perhaps it's not. Three next time." 

"Five." 

"Four." 

"Four and a half." He chuckled. 

She relented. "Four and a half it is. And did you know that the next time is actually only in a week? That is if we want to stick with the first of the month rule." 

"Oh, absolutely, we should stick to that one." He could hardly wait, though a week seemed like an awfully long time to. 

"Yes, I agree." She could hardly wait, already missing his lips on hers. 

* * *

The next two days on the bridge were a combination of torture and exquisite pleasure for the command team. They both took every opportunity to stand in each other's personal space, to almost rub up against one another but not quite. Kathryn touched Chakotay more than she had in years, just the casual touches that no one would think anything of, a hand on his shoulder, or his back, or his chest. To them, they were intoxicating, the sexual tension passing from her hand to his body almost more than either could bear. He occasionally leaned over and placed his hand on hers at the console, sending electrical sparks between them. And so they deliberately tried to stay in mixed company and not alone, no dinners were shared and no hoverball was played. On the third day they chose to tone it down for their own comfort, the fourth was even more back to normal and by the sixth their bodies had almost forgotten the experience of the week before. 

Then the computer told them the next day was the first of the month and all of it re-blossomed within each of them. They both slept fitfully that night. 

The first of the month was just like any other day in the Delta Quadrant. To the bridge crew all seemed normal. The Captain and the Commander, however, were once again miles away from the business of Voyager. 

Kathryn was contemplating the 'no tongues' condition extensively. She looked at it from all angles, finally deciding that if they planned to keep the embers burning for four years, tongues would have to play their part. She looked at Chakotay studying the console so intently. He turned to meet her gaze and she knew he was thinking about that evening no matter what the screen in front of him was flashing. Her eyes broke from his to travel down his face to his mouth, looking carefully at it, tasting it in her mind, feeling a response between her legs. She forced herself to look upward again and saw that he was studying her mouth as well. She smiled, their eyes locked and he smiled, too. She glanced away, picked up a padd and keyed in her new condition. 

Chakotay watched her every move, seeing her with the padd, wondering what she had up her sleeve now. He took the message from her and tapped the surface. Good grief, he thought. His groin responded to the padd. Tongues indeed. He met her eyes and saw they were smoky, there was no other way to describe it. He thought of a possible change to the condition and keyed it in, giving it back to her with a deep smile. 

'_Tongues and kisses allowed on other acceptable body parts.'_

Again he was rewarded with a blush. Whether anyone was watching this exchange neither had a clue, nor cared. He watched her think. 

Kathryn couldn't believe him. Acceptable body parts. As far as she was concerned they were still limited to the neck up, but as she thought about it... His mouth on her shoulder, for example, could do wonders in the next four years. She put in her counter change and handed it to him. 

_'From the shoulders up.'_ He could live with that, for now. But something had to be done..... He handed it back. 

_'Ten minutes.'_

_'Four and a half.'_ She stared at him as she gave the padd over. 

_'Ten minutes.'_

'_Six.'_

_'Ten minutes or no tongues.'_ He smiled. 

She sighed, trying to keep the smile to herself. She wasn't about to quibble over a few minutes if he was going to take the possibility of that glorious tongue of his away. She handed the padd back. 

_'Ten minutes. Shoulders up. Tongues and kisses allowed on any body part therein.'_

"I always knew you were a sharp negotiator, Captain." He winked at her. She reached over and slapped his arm lightly with a grin, before rising and retreating to her ready room to still her pounding heart. 

* * *

Again when Kathryn opened the door to him, Chakotay saw only her radiant beauty. He noticed her tunic tonight had buttons down the front. He had been thinking about her defining shoulders up, deciding, hopefully, that meant that her shoulders were one of her erogenous zones. He planned to find out, very soon. After pleasantries, they both headed straight for the couch and sat facing each other again with smiles plastered on. 

"Now, remember, this is an experiment," she said. 

"I remember, though I'm still not quite clear on the purpose." 

"To see if we can keep ourselves _interested_ in pursuing a relationship, having to wait until we get home to do so." 

"Oh. To find out how _interested_ we can stay. To see just how much we want each other, and whether we can keep wanting each other..." His voice had dropped into the husky range. 

Kathryn felt shivers run down her spine listening to him. "Yes," she said quietly, "to see how much..." She lost the end of the sentence looking at his mouth again. 

"Well, then, let's proceed. Computer, set time ten minutes on my mark," Chakotay took the initiative again. Kathryn's heart began to leap uncontrollably. "Ready?" He asked. She nodded numbly. "Mark," he intoned. 

His mouth took hers before the computer even had time to respond, took it less tentatively than before, his hands cupping her head, one heading to the back and into her hair. Kathryn felt like she was falling as his lips worked over hers, still gently, but with purpose, and as she responded with equal fervor, his began to part, his tongue pushing hers open causing them both to sharply intake their breath, then exhale with a moan as their mouths opened and their tongues met for the first time. Their arms wrapped around each other, though against the rules, their tongues dancing together, tasting each other, causing an intense reaction in their lower halves and moaning to come from deep in their throats. 

Chakotay wanted to taste the rest of her while he had the time so he pulled away from her mouth and headed across her cheek to her ear and her neck, feeling her move against him, moaning softly, then more loudly as he licked her neck under her ear. He pulled his hands in and began to unbutton her blouse, she followed his lead and reached almost frantically for his shirt, he moved back to her mouth and they fell on one another again as they unfastened buttons as quickly as they could. Kathryn succeeded first and pulled his shirt hard out of his pants, then down his shoulders. He stopped what he was doing and ripped his shirt off and tossed it then came back to her blouse and the last two buttons while Kathryn's hands roamed over his shoulders, his neck, down his chest, everywhere she could touch. He thought he would die of it. 

As he finally pulled her blouse open and off her shoulders, he moved his mouth back to the original intention, kissing and licking down her neck, then across her clavicle, over her bra strap to her shoulder, hearing her moan deeply and move against him once more. Her fingers were trailing up and down his back, her mouth was working on his own shoulder, on whatever skin was in front of her, he was losing himself in the sensations, in the knowledge that she was, too, as he pulled her to him. 

Kathryn was drowning, and only wanted to be taken deeper. She hadn't felt like this from any man's touch, ever... 

_'Ten minutes ending in three...two...one...end.'_

"No," she moaned softly. "_Please_..." 

"It's your experiment, Kathryn..." He said softly in her ear, his mouth still working on the skin of her neck and cheek, sending ripples of pleasure down her spine. "So do you want me..." 

How could she even coherently answer that in words. More than life itself? She went for the simplest answer. "Yes," she said huskily. 

"I want you..." He answered her unasked question. "Did we succeed or fail?" He ended his ministrations to her soft skin with reluctance. 

She felt his mouth leave her and ached for it to return. "I think we succeeded, far beyond the conditions given us..." She lay her face against his neck, just to take in his scent. 

"Well, then, until next month, when we get another chance to experiment, you just keep thinking about this, hold it close to your heart. For us." 

* * *

Chakotay was a patient man. He would wait another month to hold her in his arms, to kiss her with all of the passion and love he felt. But he had every intention of doing something about the conditions. 

The weeks went by. Again the first few days after their last experiment were almost excruciating as they flirted, touched and drove each other off the bridge with pent up energy. Although the intensity of this little play lessened over the month, it never went completely away, and often merely the touch of their hands brushing against each other would send shock waves through their bodies. Kathryn would blush, Chakotay would try to regain his breathing. Tom and Harry were starting to notice something odd happening, but neither could pinpoint anything in particular, so the speculation continued much as it had years previous. 

This time when the computer announced the first of the month a day away Chakotay was prepared. He had thought long and hard about last month's conditions and what had actually happened in Kathryn's quarters. When the message flashed across his console his eyes immediately went to the ready room doors, behind which sat the love of his life seeing the same thing he was. He grabbed a padd and keyed furiously. Finished, he strode quickly to her office and waited for admittance. It took longer than he had anticipated which made him chuckle. She was trying to gather her composure, he was certain. 

She smiled at him as he approached the desk. He said nothing, just handed her the padd and retreated to the bridge, a grin playing on the corners of his mouth. He settled in and waited. 

_'Waist up. No arguments. Same conditions as before regarding tongues and kisses.'_ She read, feeling a slow blush spread through her entire body. How could he think that condition would change so quickly? She keyed in her answer and left the ready room, walked right to him, handed him the padd and retreated. 

_'I'm arguing. Shoulders up.'_ He smiled, ready for that response. Again he answered, again he went to the ready room to deliver it and returned without a word. 

_'You forget, you already broke that barrier with me. Your hands were down to my waist. No arguments. Fair is fair.'_ She blushed again. Damn, he was right. Hm-m, maybe she shouldn't argue so vehemently, she thought. He might get the wrong idea, and the thought of his mouth caressing her breasts was something she could definitely enjoy for four years. She put in her answer and took the padd to the bridge. She handed it to him and sat in her command chair, staring out the viewport. 

_'Waist up. Same conditions as before.'_ Chakotay smiled again to himself, partly with anticipation of how much he would enjoy making her writhe to his touch and partly because of what he was about to do. He keyed in another response and handed the padd to her across their console. She met his eyes warily then read what he wrote. 

_'Twenty minutes. At least.'_

_'You can't keep changing that condition!'_

_'Twenty minutes. At least.'_

_'Chakotay...'_

_'Twenty minutes. At least.'_

_'You are relentless, aren't you?' _Kathryn gave him a little glare as she hit him on the arm with the padd passing it back. 

He grinned at her guilelessly after reading what she wrote. "Yes." He said out loud to her. He tapped the padd and passed it back. 

_'Twenty minutes is barely enough time to show you how much I love and want you.' _She felt the blush hit, _again_, followed by tears forming. She took a deep breath. "Okay," she answered, meeting his beautiful brown eyes, seeing the love there and meeting it with her own. She keyed her answer into the padd, handed it back to him with a sincere smile and went back to the ready room. 

_'Waist up. Twenty minutes at least. Tongues and kisses on all available body parts therein.'_ He felt the grin break out across his face and had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself before returning to work. 

Later that evening at dinner, Harry told Tom everything he had witnessed. They both concluded things were the strangest they had ever seen between the Captain and the Commander. 

* * *

The next evening found Chakotay waiting for admittance to Kathryn's quarters with a pounding heart. He tried not to analyze too carefully how they had gotten to this point in just a month and a half, considering the plan had been to kiss for two minutes each month for four years. Some experiment this was turning out to be, he laughed to himself. 

Kathryn let him in, wearing some dark green leggings and a bulky sweater, looking as beautiful as always. And as always, he handed her the bottle of wine for the table on the way to the couch. This time, however, she sat him down and turned him to face front. 

"Kathryn... What are you doing?" 

"Sh-h-h, just stay there..." Her voice sounded silky, deep and had an edge to it Chakotay had never heard before. It was seductive. His heart raced in response. 

She faced him and put her left knee on the couch next to his right one, letting her shoes off as she did this. She then leaned into him with her hands on either side of his head, put her other knee up and straddled him meeting his mouth with hers, kissing him deeply, thrusting her tongue past his lips with a guttural moan. It took him all of a nanosecond to respond as once more their mouths and tongues moved together, four weeks of sexual tension coming out in a rush, this time with their pelvises moving against each other and Kathryn's hands working on the buttons of Chakotay's shirt more slowly than their excitement warranted. He broke the kiss as a sudden realization hit him. He looked deeply into her eyes, seeing them smoky again, and full of love for him. 

"The timer?" 

"It's not working tonight." She continued to unbutton his shirt, almost down to the bottom ones. 

"The conditions?" 

She opened his shirt, then took the bottom edge of her sweater and pulled it over her head and off. She had nothing on underneath it and smiled at him, offering herself to his gaze without modesty. "They didn't go far enough." Kathryn reached to the fastener of his pants and began to undo them, leaning in to take his mouth again. She wanted him with a need that was overwhelming, a need she was tired of quenching alone. 

"The experiment?" He said into her mouth as his hands roamed over her skin and his breath caught in his throat from the feel of her against him. 

"It was a complete success and has been put to rest. I want you, you want me, I love you, you love me. It's time we did something about that..." 

"But the waiting period..." She kissed him again, stopping the words from continuing. 

"The waiting period has changed to one minute," she said as she pulled back. She stroked his face softly. "The way I figure it is this. If we do this once a week for the next four years, that's fifty-two times four which is two hundred and eight times. That should make the time pass much more quickly, don't you think?" 

He took her face in his hands, thunderstruck by what he was experiencing and what was about to happen. "And pleasantly. And if we do this twice a week that's one hundred and four times four which is four hundred and sixteen times..." 

"Exactly," she agreed. "Much better than kissing for two minutes a month." 

"Yes. Much better." 

He stood up with her wrapped around him and walked her to the bedroom where they completed the first session of their new experiment, and a few hours later the second session and the next night the third. At this rate, they figured, they'd make love one thousand four hundred and sixty times by the time they reached the Alpha Quadrant, assuming they would do so in four years. That was a much better record to go home with than ninety-six minutes of kissing. Much better.   
  
  


The end. 

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